Dominika Parry remained dedicated to advocating for Jackson, Mississippi, residents even after the Trump administration ended a multibillion-dollar initiative last year intended to assist the predominantly Black city, which was still grappling with a water crisis.
Over the years, the water that did emerge from the faucets in Black households in Jackson was frequently discolored, leaving seniors and infants with rashes and contributing to numerous health problems citywide.
Parry, alongside other community leaders and organizations, found renewed hope in 2023 with a federal grant. However, two years later—before the funds could be allocated—President Donald Trump took office and dismantled a $2.8 billion program aimed at addressing climate change and environmental challenges in Black, low-income, and disadvantaged communities.
More than a year later, federal courts intervened and criticized the administration’s attempt to revoke climate funding. The case revolves around the administration’s efforts to reverse climate investments authorized by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act, a key economic policy of President Joe Biden.
Last month, a federal judge in South Carolina ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to resume the distribution of funds aimed at tackling environmental and health issues in underserved communities.
The ruling in July coincided with the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to prevent the EPA from withdrawing nearly $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awards, a program distinct from the environmental justice grants allocated to Jackson and other strained communities.
This means that over $22 billion designated for climate and environmental projects in disadvantaged communities may soon be released.
Although Parry did not comment on the ruling, Matt Sedlar, a climate analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, stated that these legal outcomes are “sending a message to the administration that the separation of powers exists and that it must follow the law.”
What the billions could be spent on in Black communities
In 2023, a federal grant of $20 million provided an essential opportunity for Jackson’s neediest residents. The funds were intended for a resilience hub, providing continuous access to housing with reliable electricity and clean drinking water during disasters by financing a micro electric grid. It would also offer backup generators, an independent water well, showers, and overnight shelter for up to 150 individuals facing water-related challenges at home.
The aim was to create “a place where people can come, stay overnight, have access to energy, be in healthy conditions,” Parry stated last year. Parry established 2C Mississippi, a Ridgeland-based nonprofit focused on climate resilience in Mississippi, as the recipient group.
Since February 2025, the billions allocated through the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program have stalled as the Trump administration has worked to dismantle a record number of environmental regulations and protections. The Associated Press reported that the EPA programs and rules targeted for elimination were estimated to prevent about 30,000 deaths annually, particularly in Black and disadvantaged communities.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was conceived as a $27 billion national clean-energy financing program. Its objective was to make clean-energy investments, such as home-energy upgrades, solar installations, and electric vehicles, more accessible to low-income and disadvantaged communities historically excluded from affordable green financing.
The Trump administration has already filed a legal appeal against the judge’s ruling related to the environmental and climate justice grant program, arguing that the EPA now lacks the financial resources and personnel to implement the program. (The Trump administration has reduced the EPA workforce by 25 percent since 2024, resulting in the agency’s lowest staffing level ever.)
Several programs that initially received funding approval in 2024 have already been discontinued, including a solar installation program for formerly incarcerated individuals in Houston.
Last year, Leon Dillard, a participant in the program before its termination, remarked that the environmentally friendly work provided him with a “sense of purpose.”
“I really just needed to be a part of [the program], be a part of something,” he said. “You have to make a choice to take a chance, or your life will never change. But you need other people with you on that journey.”
It is anticipated that the administration will also pursue an appeal of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund ruling.
Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program projects include:
- More than $14 million to install wastewater systems in Alabama’s Blackbelt communities, where failing septic systems and untreated sewage have long affected Black residents.
- A $500,000 micro electric grid project in Gentilly, a historically Black neighborhood in New Orleans that has faced ongoing flooding, heat, and power-outage risks, especially during hurricane season.
- A $20 million grant for four interconnected disaster hubs in Florida’s historically Black areas of Lee County. The hubs would include cooling centers and, during disasters, sites for electricity, communications, water and food distribution, and emergency health support. The project also included funds for stormwater treatment, new shade trees, and workforce training.
- $500,000 for solar-workforce training for formerly incarcerated Texans, illegal-dumping cleanup, and environmental education in a Black community in Houston burdened by pollution.
- $20 million to weatherize, electrify, repair, and improve air quality in 500 homes in East Alabama and West Georgia. The plan also included 10 solar-and-battery resilience hubs for residents during outages and extreme weather.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund projects include:
- Mississippi Solar for All: Hope Enterprise Corporation received $62 million to expand residential solar access for low-income and disadvantaged Mississippians.
- Arkansas Solar for All: Hope Enterprise Corporation received $94 million for a companion program bringing solar benefits to low-income households across Arkansas.
- Georgia BRIGHT Communities Coalition: Capital Good Fund received $156 million to expand access to clean energy and related jobs in Georgia.
- EnergizeNC: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality received $156 million for its statewide low-income solar initiative.
- Industrial Heartland Solar Coalition: Growth Opportunity Partners received $156 million for a multistate solar effort serving Midwestern industrial communities.
